So Beautiful
by WatchfulEyes
Summary: A bump in the road may prove too hard to overcome for this couple. TRORY eventually.
1. Where Did Things Go Wrong?

A/N: Italics are Rory's thoughts. This takes place at Chilton in their Junior year. Tristan was never sent to military school.

****

Where Did Things Go Wrong?

Where did things go wrong? Everything seemed so perfect in the beginning. I can't believe how much things have changed. We loved each other so much, but now, it was just so hard to get through one day without yelling at each other. Rory knew that she would regret the decision she had come to, but it would release them from the hell that they've been experiencing for the past couple months.

__

They had been going out for five months now, which was a great accomplishment to both of them. Rory took their relationship very seriously, as did Tristan. Once they had started dating each other, he had stopped flirting with all of those air-headed blondes he would normally give all of his attention to. Everything was so perfect; they were perfect. But somewhere down the road, they had started to fight more and it was starting to become so unbearable for her. Every time that either of them would say something horrible to the other, her heart would clench and she felt as if someone was trying to rip it out of her chest.

She stood at her locker, not really needing anything from it, but focusing on exactly what she was going to say.

"What are you doing?" came his voice. She smiled slightly, before remembering.

"I need to talk to you, Tristan." She tried her hardest to avoid his gaze, but soon found herself staring into his eyes deeply, displaying to him all of her intentions.

"No," he simply said, while walking off.

I ran after him as we approached the student center. It seemed that everyone in the student body was there, but I had to do it. "Tristan," I called out while reaching for his arm.

"You can't do this." His voice raising with every word that came out.

"Please don't make this harder than it has to be." Her pleading voice was small and quiet, trying not to attract anymore attention than the two screaming teenagers already had.

"'Make it harder than it has to be'?! You want me to just let you walk away from me?! I won't let you!"

She sniffled, trying her hardest to keep the never-ending flow of tears at bay that had still found a way to break their way through. She took off the promise ring he had given her months before, softly placing it in his hands. Everyone could see how much she was crying now, her face red and blotchy, her small frame shaking with sobs as she tried to gasp for breath, how much this was killing her; but she had to do it. "Bye, Tristan."


	2. Mistake

****

Mistake

She ran after that. She didn't know where her feet were carrying her, but she didn't care. She just had to get away; away from the prying eyes, the pain…him. Minutes later, she found herself in a park she didn't even notice was near Chilton. She found a tree and tried to hide her best behind it. This is where she let even more tears out. Her body was still shaking and she had given up on trying to dry her tears. Her sleeves were drenched with the salty liquid and she found herself heaving for air as her throat became dry. She slowly lifted herself off the ground and made her way back to school.

She made her first stop in the bathroom. Upon reaching the mirror, she realized why she didn't like crying in public places. Her face was so red with pain and her eyes were still forming tears. She splashed cold water over her face in hoped of getting rid of the evidence, but it didn't help at all. With a sigh of defeat, she gathered her things for her next class and headed for the nurse's office. After telling the nurse that she was just having a bad day, she gave Rory a comforting smile and wrote her a pass. 

She was dreading this. She had four out of six classes with Tristan. She slowly opened the door to her class and all conversation stopped. Everyone was staring at her; some with a pitying look, others sympathy, but all the same, it was attention that she didn't want. She gave her teacher the pass and quickly found her way to her seat.

She could feel him watching her. Staring at her intently as if trying to figure out if she had actually meant to do what she did; if she actually felt the hate towards him that he now thought she did. She didn't allow herself to look back at him. She knew that if she did, she would take everything back and settle into his arms again. She couldn't let that happen. If she did, they would go back to yelling and that unwelcome pain would find its way back to her. She couldn't let that happen.

As soon as the bell rang, she swiftly made her way out the door. As soon as she got her books, she walked to her next class, trying to block out all of the whispering voices around her. How would she be able to handle this? Why did she think that she was strong enough to handle this on her own? She couldn't. She needed someone to be there to hold her hand, to be with her as she walked this terrifying path that everyone called life.

***

After school, she started to walk towards the bus, her head bent down in a book. She wasn't really reading. She couldn't concentrate at all. Her mind was pounding and her whole body ached. That's when it hit her. _I just made the biggest mistake of my life._


	3. Too Many Thoughts

****

Too Many Thoughts

Sure, she had told herself that this was the right thing, but what it came down to was her love for Tristan. She loved him more than anything in this world and she had given it up. What was she thinking? How could he ever forgive her? He couldn't; he wouldn't. She feared that this was the truth; that she would never be able to lie down in his arms again, never experience his kiss again, never look into his deep eyes the same again. 

She sat down on the bench, unaware that the bus had already left. She started to break down again. She brought her legs up to her chest and rolled into a ball, hoping that no one would see her. 

"Rory?" 

She looked up and saw him. Those radiant blue eyes, those luscious lips. She gave a faint smile before bringing her head down again.

He sat down next to her, gently bringing his hand to her back, rubbing soft circles. "What's wrong?"

She didn't understand. _Why is he being so nice? _She had just broken up with him in front of the whole school, but he still continued to be the caring guy she had come to love. She turned her head so that she could face him. In a small voice, she replied, "I missed my bus."

He nodded in understanding, but both knew that that wasn't the reason why she was crying. 

"I'll give you a ride home." He got up and took her hand, dragging her with him to his car.

"Tristan, I can't let you do that. I live far away and it would just be too much of a hassle for you," she explained while trying to hold back his pull.

"Rory," he let out in a stern voice. "I'm taking you home. End of story." He dragged her the rest of the way and sat her down in the passenger seat. After he got in too, she let out a soft 'thank you'.


	4. Monkey Boxers

****

Monkey Boxers

The ride home was so silent. So silent that it felt like it was pounding Rory in the head, mocking her even. She looked out the window. The weather took quite a turn. There were dark clouds overhead before, but now the snow was really starting to come down. The visibility of everything was blurred.

After the 45 minutes that it took to get in front of the Gilmore house, Rory just sat there. She didn't know why she couldn't move. 

"Rory?"

"Yeah?" she turned her head slightly to see his face.

"Are you okay?"

She seemed to be in deep thought, not answering for a little while. "You can't go home," she let out.

"What?"

"You can barely see the roads. I can't let you drive back to Hartford in this weather." She got out of the car, not waiting for his reply and walked over to his side. She opened the door and pulled him out, dragging him to the front door.

"Rory, I'll be fine." His voice didn't even seem affected, but she knew he was afraid; afraid that the worst would happen if he drove.

"No, you won't. You might get into an accident." She pulled him inside, brushing the snow off of her and softly added, "and I don't want to lose you." She said it so quietly that he didn't even know if she spoke; that it was just a figment of his imagination.

***

"I could only find these sweatpants that you left here a while ago; as for a shirt, I guess you're going to have to wear the one you're wearing now." She just handed him the pants casually, not even seeming to be affected by him being so close to him. How could he be under the same roof as her without being able to touch her, hold her?

"Thanks." He grabbed the item of clothing and, without even really thinking about it, he started to take of his pants, soon slipping into the sweatpants. She let out an amused chuckle. "What?" he asked her curiously, as she placed some blankets and a pillow on the couch.

"There are monkeys on your boxers," she let out between giggles.

He looked at her weirdly. "So, you've seen them before," he said simply.

"I know," she shrugged, laughter now subsided. "It just seemed funny to me all of a sudden."

"Why, because we aren't together anymore?" he said jokingly. He didn't realize how painful those words really were until he saw the hurt expression on her face. "I'm sorry…I don't know why I said that," he offered quietly.

"It's fine," she replied, just as silently. Before he could say anything, she turned, heading to her room, and called out 'good night' to him. He let out a frustrated sigh and fell to the couch, willing sleep to overcome him.


	5. Midnight Talk

****

Chapter 5: Midnight Talk

Tristan tossed and turned for an unseeingly endless amount of hours with only a light sleep that veiled him. He finally gave up and opened his eyes. The room was dark and was only illuminated by the little light that came in through the window. His eyes moved around the room, finally settling on a figure sitting in the armchair across from the couch. "What are you doing up, Rory?" He sat up on the couch, turning his whole body towards her.

She merely shrugged, taking a drink from her mug of what Tristan assumed to be coffee. "Couldn't sleep."

"How long have you been there?"

She shrugged again. "I came out about a half an hour after we said 'goodnight'."

Then the silence settled upon them, both growing more tense with each passing second. "Rory, about yesterday…"

She let out a loud sigh; she knew that this talk was going to happen, she just didn't know it would be so soon. "Yeah?"

"Why did you do it?"

She stayed quiet for a few minutes, trying to find the right words to explain why she did do what she did. "I just-I couldn't take the fighting anymore, Tristan."

"That's why you broke up with me?" His voice was so soft, so child-like that it made Rory want to bring him into her arms and hold him, hold him until the pain went away, but she didn't even know if she had that right anymore.

"Every time we would fight, my heart would break more, Tristan. I just can't stand it when we do and even though it hurts this much, maybe it will be good for us to…to spend some time apart."

"I'm sorry that our fighting did this to you, but I can't stay away from you, Rory, I just can't."

This is when she started to let her tears fall. "I can't stay away from you, either, Tristan, but it's what we have to do."

"Can't we just try again? I don't want to lose you," he whispered.

She smiled sadly. "I don't want to lose you either, but if we stayed together, it would have gotten worse, it would have been more painful."

"So where do we go from here?"

She paused for a few seconds. "I don't know, Tristan," she spoke softly. "I just don't know."


End file.
